Observatory News Bulletin: On the destruction of Moria RIC and the recent developments in Lesvos

The Observatory of the Refugee and Migration Crisis in the Aegean presents a collection of articles from the Greek (local and national) and international press and announcements from various political and social fora, in reference to the recent fire which led to the destruction of Moria RIC in Lesvos. The collection includes the following sections:

1. Introductory text from the Observatory

2. Articles from the Greek local press

3. Articles from the Greek national press

4. Articles from the international press

5. Announcements from political and social fora

6. Announcements from Humanitarian Organizations

7. Published audiovisual material

1. Introductory text from the Observatory

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, 9th of September 2020, a fire broke out in Moria Registration and Identification Center, Lesvos which led to the destruction of most of the camp/area. During the evening of the same day, another fire broke out which finally completely destroyed the rest of the camp leaving most of its 13,000 residents homeless. While residents of Moria camp were forced to evacuate the camp due to the fire, police forces were trying to prevent them from reaching the surrounding villages and the capital of Lesvos, Mytilene. The total destruction of Moria RIC led to a major humanitarian crisis with thousands of people living literally in the streets without shelter or sanitation for days.

In the aftermath of the fire, the whole area was cordoned off by the police, while strong reactions were expressed by locals who were protesting against the reestablishment of Moria RIC. At the same time, government officials and Ministers were holding a press conference in Mytilene to present the government plan for responding to the new crisis. The island of Lesvos was declared in a four month ‘state of emergency’. Moreover, despite the demands of the local authorities to “decongest” the island and remove refugees and migrants to mainland Greece, the government did not relax the geographical restriction of the asylum seekers, with the exception of 400 unaccompanied minors, who were immediately transferred to shelters in the mainland.

The following day, Thursday 10th of September, the Vice President of the European Committee arrived in Lesvos and announced the establishment of a new camp on the island (with EU funds). Meanwhile, reactions were expressed by political parties and humanitarian organizations, but also from locals protesting against the sheltering of asylum seekers on the island. Subsequently, on Friday 11th of September, following a meeting between government officials on the island and humanitarian organizations, it was decided that a new temporary camp would be established in a military zone next to the municipal accommodation facility of Kara Tepe. The above decision sparked reactions and clashes between police forces and asylum seekers, who demanded to leave the island and refused to enter the new camp. Meanwhile, as a reaction to the new camp, the municipality and the regional authorities of the island called for a strike and staged a protest for Tuesday the 15th demanding the decongestion of the island from asylum seekers. On the same day, the authorities announced the arrest of five persons over the fire in Moria camp. They were subsequently charged with arson.

Gradually, over the next days the asylum seekers were moved to the new camp, but only after they were tested for covid-19 upon entrance. Until 21st of September more than 200 asylum seekers were found covid-19 positive. Reception and living conditions in the new accommodation facility of Kara Tepe raise serious concerns regarding the protection of asylum seekers. The first concern is related to serious shortages in basic provisions as well as insufficient infrastructure. It has been reported that washing and hygiene facilities are limited. Specifically, there is limited access to running water, few bathrooms and no electricity. Moreover, the portions of food distributed to the residents are inadequate and thus many do not have proper access to food. Additionally, tents housing single men are overcrowded; in several cases the population hosted in each tent unit reaches 100 people. Lastly, there is no official announcement yet when the asylum procedures will resume.

The recent fire in Moria camp has to be regarded as part of a sequence of violent incidents that started in Feb 2020. We would venture to say that it is part of a genealogy of 'humanitarian arsons' that have inflicted considerable damage to the local humanitarian regime. These incidents are related to the government's plans to restructure the hotspots of the Aegean islands, but also to the widespread reaction to these plans by the island communities, and the ultimate failure of the government to implement the restructuring (for more on this crisis, see: Observatory News Bulletin: On the major crisis in the protection of asylum seekers in Moria RIC and the recent protests in Lesvos). After the crisis of February 2020, there followed a period in which Moria camp was put in a continuous covid-19 lockdown and the authorities grasped the opportunity to test ways to transform the camp into a closed center for asylum seekers. Just some days before the fire that destroyed the camp, the first official moves by the Greek government towards the transformation of the RIC into a closed accommodation center were observed, with specific legislative acts aiming to the fencing off of the wider Moria camp, including the surrounding “jungle” - the olive groves that have been used as the unofficial camp for years.

The total destruction of the camp, despite the heavy cost both to the asylum seekers and the government’s humanitarian regime, provided an opportunity for the government to succumb to local reactions and to strengthen police forces on the island in order to manage the homeless asylum seekers and to provide security to the local population and, finally, to pursue its agenda of 'closed centres'. Lastly, the destruction of Moria Hotspot can also be seen as the event that signals the transition towards a new E.U. migration approach, since it coincides with the prospect of a new asylum and migration policy, under the German presidency of the EU.